Visual Arts

A graduate of Lexington One’s Gilbert High School, Carlee McCartha Myers is an artist, photographer, and teacher with ten years of experience as Lexington High School’s AP Studio Art and Photography teacher. Myers is a graduate of Columbia College where she received her bachelor’s degree in Studio Art and minored in Communication. Before entering the field of education, Myers worked as a graphic designer having her designs in numerous publications including the Wall Street Journal. After becoming a teacher in 2003, Myers went on to receive her National Board Certification in Studio Art. She is also a Gifted and Talented certified educator. She is a graduate of the Curriculum Leadership Institute in the Arts (CLIA) and member of the Lexington One Fine Arts Leadership Team. Myers has written and received both the Michelin Golden Apple Grant and the S.C. Department of Education Arts Curricular Innovation “Special Projects” Grant to fund creative teaching strategies in her classroom. She has also written pacing guides for the arts as part of the Lexington One Visual Arts Curriculum Writing Team. Her students have won numerous awards, including SC State Fair art awards, Scholastic Arts awards including a coveted “Silver Key,” and over $1000 in awards money from the Lexington Medical Centers’ Art of Healing art contest. Four of her AP Art students had work selected for the prestigious Southern Regional AP Art Show presented by the College Board showcasing student work from South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Myers enjoys painting and has won various awards for her artwork. Her art was showcased in the 2008 SC Art Educators Invitational art show at Columbia College. She also owns her own business, Carlee Myers Photography and Design where she specializes in graphic design and portraits for the whole family. She is a proud mom to Brayden, McKenna, and Carson and wife of Lexington Technology Centers’ Assistant Director, Bryce Myers.

Chris Stafford – Visual Arts Teacher

I have been a public high school Art teacher for thirteen years and am National Board Certified. I loved
Art in high school and attended Governor’s School for the Arts during the summer before my senior
year. After getting my Bachelor of Arts at Lander University, I was a program director at several summer camps. I used my Art skills to design publications, but I found I also had a natural talent for creating a positive, encouraging learning environment for young people. Somehow my love of music and a
learning-by-doing approach helped foster a real community among the teens in my program. Building
on this foundation, I went on to earn a Master of Arts in Teaching at USC and learned to apply these experience-based skills from camp to a classroom setting. Through collaboration with teachers and students, I have been blessed to facilitate some extraordinary learning experiences, at Pelion High School for ten years and then several years in New Mexico. My family and I moved back to South Carolina in 2013, and I began teaching at River Bluff with much excitement. We are constantly learning how to improve our skills as educators, and the student-centered culture continually increases my love for teaching, especially the joy of helping students find and express their voice.

Twelve Interesting Facts that speak more than my resume ever could: I have edited an underground art
& literary ‘zine, studied in England, travelled in Europe, driven the entire Southern United States from coast to coast, tried to teach drum lessons, had artwork hanging in the same museum as Robert Rauschenberg, saw Guns N’ Roses when they were a good band and Nirvana before they were famous, collaborated with Mrs. Hawthorne on making the most rad Spirit Stick ever (it has real alligator teeth on it!), I met the singer for Counting Crows and attended the Expeditionary Learning Conference in Atlanta last year where I got the idea for the best lesson I have ever taught. And about once a year I break dance for my students (I can only do a back spin still, but it’s pretty decent, I hear).

Sara McGregor is the newest addition to the Visual arts team at River Bluff High School. She teaches Digital Photography 1 and 2 and Visual Arts Foundations courses. McGregor is a graduate of the University of South Carolina with a Masters
of Arts in Teaching in Art Education and the College of Charleston with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Arts Management with a minor in Theatre. While at the University of South Carolina, she was President of the National Art Education Association chapter and was awarded the Magellan Scholar Grant for her book, “The Carolina Theatre: A Cinematic Treasure in Allendale, South Carolina.” Her photographs have been exhibited at the University of South Carolina and at the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art “Young Contemporaries,” a jury selected exhibition.

In my arts classroom, I work to create a cooperative, creative, and supportive environment where I strive to provide as much individualized attention as possible. I want students to develop their analytical, creative, and technical skills in a diverse range of art areas: such as ceramics, drawing, mixed media, painting, photography, and printmaking. Students will have a well-­‐rounded discipline and inquiry based education in Art Aesthetics, History, and Production. My goal for the course curriculum is to integrate visual culture arts education by incorporating new media, technology, and personal creativity within a social context to help enrich and connect the students to their work and the world. I hope students will leave with a positive attitude towards their own art and others by learning the skills and techniques to analyze and create art in preparation for their future endeavors in education and life.

Audra Yesnach – Visual Arts Teacher

Audra Yesnach has been a part of the visual arts teaching community in the Columbia, South Carolina area since 1998, after working in the private sector in Alabama as an Addy Award winning Graphic Designer and Art Director. She attended Auburn University where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Communications and Graphic Design, and later received a Master of Arts in Teaching in Art Education from the University of South Carolina. She also completed the Photography Certificate Program at Midlands Technical College, where she has also been employed since 2003, and worked as the Lead Photography Instructor in charge of that same educational program until 2016. She is certified to teach K-12 Visual Arts, has been a National Board Certified teacher since 2003, and is additionally endorsed to teach Advanced Placement Studio Art.

“I’m not bad at art. I don’t yet have the skill set I need to gain the confidence to believe that I am good at art.” – Yesnach

Adam Kelley – Visual Arts Teacher

Adam Kelley began teaching in Orangeburg, SC at Edisto High School. He then began working in Lexington School District One’s Gilbert High School where he taught for four years. He currently teaches Art 1 and Art 2 at River Bluff High School. Since working in public education, Kelley has received the Scholastic Silver Key Award, has been featured in Jasper magazine, the Orangeburg Times & Democrat Newspaper, is an Artfields participating artist, coached region winning Cross Country teams, Boys and Girls Varsity Soccer programs, and has served on various school-wide committees, chaired student clubs and faculty-driven initiatives.

Kelley earned his Bachelor’s in Art Education and a Master’s degree in Educational Administration from the University of South Carolina. Kelley also holds a certification in AP Art History and is an Assistant Coach for the RBHS Men’s Soccer program. He lives in Lexington with his wife and son.